Marchione opponent waits to set up campaign committee

As Democrat Brian Howard challenges Republican state Sen. Kathy Marchione in the 43rd District, one of main issues he wants confronted is campaign finance.

“If we don’t reform it, it’s such a corrupt system that we’re not going to have one person’s vote be equal to another person’s vote,” Howard told WAMC in June.

Perhaps trying to throw the issue back at the candidate, Saratoga County Republican Committee Chairman John Herrick took Howard to task this week for not submitting a campaign finance filing to the state Board of Elections by the July 15 deadline.

“One week past the filing deadline and Howard still hasn’t done it,” Herrick said in a statement. “His campaign finance disclosure statement is a mystery, which begs the question: what is Brian Howard trying to hide? Howard gets a well-deserved ‘F’ in the critical subject of transparency.”

Howard’s defense was a simple one: Until late last week, he didn’t have a campaign committee.

A Marchione spokesman reiterated Herrick’s accusations despite these new revelations.

Howard started gathering support to challenge Marchione in late May, but created his committee to solicit donations on July 18 — three days after candidates were required to file itemized financial disclosures.

According to an official at the state board, Howard can’t be sanctioned for failing to file a disclosure form for an entity that hadn’t actually been set up during the filing period.

But what has Howard been doing without a campaign committee to raise money during the roughly six weeks in which he has been talking up his challenge to Marchione? According to the July 15th disclosure, his opponent has close to $265,000 in the bank.

Howard’s campaign spokesman Randy Koniowka pointed out that the candidate only officially announced his run on July 8th.

Koniowka said there were no campaign expenditures or contributions prior to the July 15 filing deadline. None of the campaign staff had been paid, and a volunteer designed Howard’s website. The only expense since the filing deadline has been for campaign signs, and that cost, Koniowka said, would show up on the next report, which is due in early October.

“When you look at the filings after the deadline and see nothing is reported even though he has a website and campaign signs,” Herrick said. “You have to ask the question.”

Howard served as superintendent of Queensbury schools for six years, and more recently as interim superintendent in Troy and Berlin.

The Senate district, which starts just north of Saugerties, runs up the east side of the Hudson River crossing north of Troy and going up past Saratoga Springs. Marchione won it in 2012 after beating incumbent Roy McDonald in the GOP primary.

“This is just the type of dirty politics that people are sick and tired of,” Koniowka said. “People want to hear about the issues. … With (Marchione), all you have is mudslinging.”

Matt Hamilton contributed reporting to this story.

*This post has been updated to include further comments from Chairman Herrick.

Sammy, they are not opposed to reform they are opposed to taxpayer financed campaigns. NY doesn’t have the $ it needs to maintain it’s infrastructure so where will the $ come from to pay for campaigns?

As far as I am concerned taxpayers should not be required to finance someone’s political aspirations.

You have to admire Saratoga County Republicans. They show their ignorance of election law by accusing opponents of committing imaginary crimes. Of course Republicans are handed donations and can tap the county workforce for assistance if they need to carry petitions.
The County Office for the Aging was showing its support of Republican candidates with a nice supply of fans with their name on it. The County Museum parking lot prominently displayed a parked vehicle with every Republican’s name and sign on it.
SO which law did the Democrat break?

@K2 – taxpayer financing elections is the only alternative to elections financed by the 1% Corporate Elite. It is the only alternative to legalized BRIBERY.
If politicians are NOT owned by the 1% Corporate Elite, we can stop Corporate Welfare, make sure Corporations and the Rich pay their fair share of taxes, and this will SAVE Working Class taxpayers money.

“As if the Legislature isn’t screwed up enough, now we need to elect a wanna-be double dipping educrat”
____________________________________
Kathy has been on the public dole her entire life…that and Bruce Tanski’s payroll.

@EriK- Marchione is double dipping also. She’s collecting from her previous positions as Town Clerk and Town Supervisor of Halfmoon. Lets talk about a real issue, like the corrupt land deal she is being investigated on. Tanski, Wormuth and Marchione. The Republican tri-fecta for abuse and corruption.

@sammy – do you consider the Soros family as part of the 1%? Are they corporate elite? What about Sean Eldridge and his husband Chris Hughes? Are they 1%’ers and part of the corporate elite?

Hypocrites are a problem @sammy. And those two above dropped over $500K on now Senator Tkaczyk for her commitment to making taxpayer financed campaigns a reality in NY. Weren’t they trying to oppose DEMOCRACY by imparting their money to win that race.

Campaign finance reform although a critically important issue is unfortunately not as simple or sexy as gun control.
–

Crystal Ball: The good people of the 43rd are gonna eat up her Yosemite Sam act as she shoots her way into another term.
–

Another race where the campaign finance candidate is probably going to get squashed on image over issues is Gibson vs Eldridge. It’s almost too easy for Gibson to sell his local hero family man image to the voting masses.

Actually alleged campaign finance reform does zero as it relates to counting the very real monetary value of hundreds if not thousands of union “volunteers” that flood elections where the union’s endorse someone (usually a Democrat) That is a valuable resource and in many cases its more valuable then money, since committed support is always better than that which you can purchase. As long as campaign finance reform ignores this loophole, its nothing more than a tactic to provide a permanent advantage to Democrats, which is why its all left-wing groups pushing it and why Republicans oppose it. It isn’t reform its a recipe to eliminate a viable two-party system in New York State, which means less Democracy….unless you are a Democrat

The Dems don’t have a reasonable candidate because they nominate from a limited class of persons who nothing more than Republican-lites. Cannot beat a republican with a like candidate. The current senator got there by declaring she believes in discrimination of certain people yet there is n mention of such by anyone. In Saratoga and Rensselaer counties, republicans act as they are entitled to run things yet there is no expectation by anyone that they serve the public rather than themselves. If it is raining election day, the potential health hazard is a greater potential of harm than any candidate offered by either party.

@Uric – While you attack Sean Eldridge, Cecelia Tkatczyk and other Democrats for spending money to get elected, you fail to mention that they ALL support REFORM. These Progressive Democrats all want to CHANGE THE SYSTEM, so that candidates can run WITHOUT having to beg the 1% for “contributions?.
Brian Howard, Madelyn Thorne, Sean Eldridge, Aaron Woolf – ALL support REFORM.
Their Repubican opponents, Marchione, Farley, Gibson, Stefanik are ALL protecting the CORRUPT status quo of legalized BRIBERY.
If there is a single issue that best exemplifies how the Republicans are OWNED by the 1% Corporate Elite, while Democrats are standing up for the 99% Working Class, the issue of CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM is it.

@Mayor Jim – you equate the volunteering of Working Class Americans as equal to Billions of dollars from the 1% Corporate Elite trying to buy elections.
Would you oppose these Working Class Americans volunteering if they were supporting Republicans? Perhaps Republicans need to support policies that help the Working Class, instead of policies that rip us off, if they want volunteers.
Working Class people volunteering IS Democracy.
1% Corporate Elite Money buying elections is CORRUPTION, PLUTOCRACY.
It is clear whose side the Republicans are on.

@Old Guy – good point about Republican-lites.
But Brian Howard is NO Republican-lite.
Speaking out for Reform, talking about the Corruption of Money buying elections, shows that he is the Real Deal, a Populist Progressive Democrat.

@Sammy, Brian Howard is an elitist who feels that renters are below those who own their own property.

“This type of high density, shorter term residences will erode the current culture of the community and the school,” Howard wrote, according to a Post-Star report at the time. “There will be an ever increasing percentage of residents and students who are transients (moving in and out every few years.)”

Mr. Howard’s statement as Super of Schools for Queensbury in his attempt to limit the number of rental units in the town. He didn’t want renters to harm Queensbury’s culture or current community.

@K2 – what an absurd stretch to call Howard an elitist.
Home ownership has long been established as a stabilizing force for communities. That’s why there are tax incentives to home ownership, particularly the income tax deductions for mortgage interest & property taxes. That’s why HUD & other agencies, from Federal to local, have programs to assist 1s time home buyers.
If that’s all you Republicans have on Howard, you are pretty desperate.
But I’m glad you bring up ELITISM.
If you want to talk about real ELITISM, look no further than Marchione’s opposition to Campaign Finance Reform; her support for the status quo of legalized BRIBERY where the true Elitists, the 1% CEO class, use their money to BUY elections.
Of course Marchione & the Republicans are with the 1% Corporate Elite on EVERY single issue.